Rambling about love, hate and inclusivity.

I woke up today to the news that Donald Trump is going to be the next president of the United States.

As so many others, I could not believe that such a hatemonger could win such an important position. I’ve seen the way Trump supporters act on the internet, heard the man himself on TV, for the past year. I simply could not believe that a majority would rather have a person such as him hold such power.

Now, as for myself – I’m a straight, white Danish guy. I’m unlikely to be directly negatively influenced by this outside of the worldwide economical ramifications this presidency is going to have. But as a nerd, this turn of events is troubling to me.

I – as so many others – grew up being bullied for what I liked. I had a hellish childhood in school, years of mental torture at the tiny hands of the type of person who could grow up to be a Trump. Now, I’m so privileged that this was a situation I could grow out of. At the time of high school, I was met with people who just wanted to get along and figure out what everything was about. My time being bullied and mocked for what I liked to do or how I looked / acted / dressed was over.

Many others are not so lucky. And this is why I cannot fathom how people online – thinking of demographics like GamerGaters and the online alt right specifically – can have so little empathy for others. I don’t know why it’s such a blind spot for so many people – maybe it’s sort of a “Someone Else’s Problem” field like in Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Maybe it’s too painful to think back on what it felt like to be bullied for something out of your own control. But it’s not okay.

I spent my childhood being an underdog – my greatest hope outside of just being left alone was that someone would stand up for me, to empathise with me.That’s why I cannot as an adult bear to stand by when I see someone being bullied.

I remember the hopeless feeling of unfairness, of just wanting to exist without being bothered every day – and even though I thought it was hell at the time, I recognize that I am lucky enough that it ended. People of color, women, LGBTQIA people, are not so lucky.

I may be a goddamn pale, white and nerdy straight guy – but I stand with people of color, women, LGBTQIA and everyone else who is as terrified by the recent political turn of events.

As it happens, I’m going to the Capitol Wasteland over the weekend for a family wedding. I’ll try to take some pictures of anything interesting, and maybe some video to re-create the teaser trailer for Fallout 3 linked below.

6 months agoby NerdEssentialsExcelsior, true believers! I'm having a BLAST playing the Spider-Man game on PS4! The only problem is that photo mode; I keep goofing around, trying to get cool screenshots #spidermanps4#playstation#marvel